It's pretty cool these days for girls to stand up and say, “I'm a gamer!” Bonus admiration is issued if they do it with only half their clothes on, but male gamers are usually just happy to know we walk amongst their ranks. Game companies are definitely happy about us, because we spend money on everything from puppy sims to big games with big guns.
I'll let you in on a little secret. Girls have always liked games. What's different is that developers, game publications and marketing divisions are making an effort to let us know what's going on in the industry. Young females are being encouraged to try a little bit of everything and settle down into something they love, whether it's ponies or blowing someone's brains onto the ceiling. I'm glad, because I remember how awkward it was to be a girl gamer during those crucial years when I cared about what other people thought of me.
Mackey's retrospective on Bart vs The Space Mutants for the NES is what started me thinking back to those uncomfortable days when I wasn't just a girl gamer, but a “weird” one at that. My circle of friends was primarily made up of females in spite of my tomboyish ways, and I was invited to my fair share of girl-populated birthday parties. Most of these party houses had an NES, and even though games were almost strictly thought of as boy's stuff back in the olden days, the system never went ignored. We played plenty of games.
The problem? The games were all of the sucky, licensed variety--Bart vs The Space Mutants being a prime example of a wasted video game rental at an all-girl party. Not just once, either. No, you could count on a shitty licensed game like Home Alone to make a repeat appearance at parties as a five-dollar rental. We were often completely baffled by the vague goals and awful controls these games offered, but few of my friends wanted to move beyond the comfort of a familiar name. Sometimes they'd pick at a Mario title for a little while, thank God, but I was usually doomed to watch my friends struggle with an unplayable game for hours. My suggestions for games were usually shot down; even if the hostesses' brother had amassed an impressive collection of games, there was no question about exchanging Macaulay Culkin's unwinnable wank festival for something more solid, like Mega Man or Cobra Triangle.
Few of my girl friends played Nintendo, and it's no wonder. Nobody felt compelled to research what was out there with commercials being primarily boy-oriented, and when they did play, they were let down by shoddy licensed trash. They probably decided games weren't worth their time outside of a party environment, and with good reason. I was teased for being game-crazy and for reading Nintendo Power, but obviously, I'm glad I stuck to my guns. Girls, cave in to drugs and booze if you must, but Just Say No to bad games. You can do so much better.
(Disclaimer: please don't cave in to drugs and booze.)
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